Recruiting in China

By Elizabeth Stull

The law firm of Nixon Peabody LLP on Monday announced the opening of its Shanghai office, the firm's first office in Asia and its second office overseas.

Scott Turner, managing partner of Nixon Peabody's Rochester office, said the Shanghai location will benefit Upstate companies interested in China, and Chinese companies interested in coming to Upstate New York

"For Upstate clients it means a whole lot, because we've found a huge interest in our Chinese marketplace," particularly among optics companies," Turner said.

The new office is located on the 18th floor of the Bund Center, a distinctive luxury commercial skyscraper completed in 2002 and flanked by Westin luxury hotels on Yan An East Road, near Shanghai's historic commercial Bund area.

Nixon Peabody plans to staff the office with a rotating team of two West Coast U.S. partners, James C. Chapman and Daniel Deshon. Chapman is a partner in the firm's Silicon Valley office who represents companies conducting business in China. Deshon, of San Francisco, was managing partner of O'Melveny & Myers LLP's Hong Kong office from 1999 to 2003. Nixon Peabody plans to add permanent legal staff in Shanghai in the near future.

Lori Green, a corporate transactional partner in Rochester, said a dozen U.S. attorneys regularly work with the China group, either on "inbound or outbound work" for companies looking to work inside or outside of China. Partners Harry P. Trueheart III (Nixon Peabody LLP chairman), Peter H. Durant, Jean H. McCreary and Richard A. McGuirk are among this group.

"China has one of the most dynamic economies in the world today," Truehart said. "Our new Shanghai office offers unique opportunities for our clients' growing business needs as we help U.S. companies understand and navigate the complexities of doing business in China."

Nixon & Peabody's China group advises clients on how to structure venture capital and private equity investments in China, resolve business and trade disputes, protect and enforce intellectual property rights, and structure and document acquisitions of Chinese domestic companies.